AT&T, Verizon want FCC to enforce net neutrality

By eSchool News

June 18th, 2008

AT&T and Verizon Communications say the Federal Communications Commission needs to show that its net neutrality principles can be enforced to keep future legislation at bay, CNET reports. Executives from the two companies on June 17 said it’s important for the FCC to take action against Comcast for slowing down some peer-to-peer traffic to prove that legislation is not necessary when it comes to net neutrality. Comcast, the largest cable provider in the U.S., has been under fire for months after it was discovered the company had been slowing down peer-to-peer traffic on its network. The company claimed it had singled out peer-to-peer, file-sharing traffic, because it was eating up an inordinate amount of bandwidth, which caused degradation across the rest of its customers.
Consumer groups were incensed by the tactic, and the blogosphere filled with criticism. As a result, the FCC has been examining whether Comcast violated any of the agency’s net neutrality principles. A hearing was held earlier this year, and the FCC is expected to make a ruling on the matter sometime this summer…